Organizational structure of a company can be shown in a chart. Such chart indicates how different departments are interlinked on the basis of authority and responsibility. It is a simple diagrammatic method of describing an Organizational structure. It indicates how the departments are linked together on the basis of authority and responsibility. Such organizational chart provides information of the organizational structure at a glance. Organizational chart is like a blue print of a building. It indicates the number and types of departments, superior-subordinate relationship, chain of command and communication. According to George Terry, organizational chart is “a diagrammatical form which shows important aspects of an organization, including the major functions and their respective relationships, the channels of supervision and the relative authority of each employee who is in-charge of each respective function”. Features of Organizational Chart The definition noted above indicates the following features of Organizational charts: Organizational chart is a Continue reading
Management Basics
Attitudes – Definition, Components, Sources and Types
Attitudes can be defined as an individual’s feelings about or inclinations towards other persons, objects, events, or activities. Attitudes encompass such affective feelings as likes and dislikes, and satisfactions and dissatisfactions. Our needs, past experiences, self-concept, and personality shape the beliefs, feelings, and opinion we hold towards the perceived world. Once we have formed our likes and dislikes, we generally cling on to them and find it difficult to change our attitudes, unless we make a conscious and determined effort to do so. An interesting phenomenon is that our values shape our attitudes. Traditionally, behavioral scientists have divided attitudes into two major groups: i) those that are cognitive (for example, beliefs or expectations about cause-effect relationships between events) and ii) those that are evaluative (for example, liking or disliking for event). An example of a cognitive attitude would be an employee’s belief that superior job performance would be rewarded by Continue reading
Perception – Meaning, Definition, Process and Influencing Factors
Meaning and Definition of Perception Perception can be defined as a process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment. Perception is not just what one sees with eyes. It is a much more complex process by which an individual selectively absorbs or assimilates the stimuli in the environment, cognitively organizes the perceived information in a specific fashion and then interprets the information to make an assessment about what people select, organize, and interpret or attach meaning to events happening in the environment. Since perception is subjective process, different people may perceive the same environment differently based on what particular aspects of the situation they choose. For example, some employees may perceive the work place as great if it has favorable working conditions, good pay. Others may perceive it as great if it has challenging assignments and opportunity to grow. Managers Continue reading
Shortcuts in Judging Others – Meaning, Types and Applications
Meaning of Shortcuts in Judging Others In perceiving the stimuli in our environment, people are likely to make so many errors and ended up with poor results. Some of those errors are stereotyping, halo effects, selective perception, distortions, attributions, projections etc. Each of these errors is dysfunctional for good decision making and management. Since subjective emotions, judgmental attitudes, and distortion of facts are common in perceiving any situation, we have tried to identify ways in which we can minimize perceptual biases. The need for managers to accurately perceive the environment and how manages can sharpen their perceptual skill are vital in enhancing perceptual skills. People tend to follow a number of shortcut methods when observing others and making judgment of others activities. These techniques are to some extent valuable and allow us to make accurate perceptions rapidly and provide valid data for making predictions. However, they are not foolproof. However, Continue reading
What is Personality? Meaning, Definition, Determinants and Traits
People tend to have a general notion that personality refers to a personal appearance with charming smile, or outlook. But psychologists view the concept as dynamic in nature concerned with growth and development of a person’s whole psychological system. Personality can be defined as the consistent psychological patterns within an individual that affect the way they interact with others and the situations they encounter. Personality is defined as relatively stable and enduring characteristics that determine our thoughts, feelings and behavior. Personality is a complex phenomenon and there are various perspectives of personality construct. One common and simple definition of Personality is: It is the consistent psychological patterns within an individual that affect the way they interact with others and the situations they encounter. Research studies shows that individual’s personality is more or less consistent, lasting, and can remain substantially constant across all the situations and time. But there are individual Continue reading
Importance of Planning in Management
One of the first and most important functions of management is planning. Planning consists of the process of evaluating the goals of an organization and creating a plan to meet these goals. Both Koontz and O’Donnell state that “planning is deciding in advance on what to do, when and how it will be done, and who will be doing it”. Therefore, planning is the foundation of the management role, and plays a critical part to the success of an organization by determining the means and the methods in order to achieve the objective. A key element and starting point of this process should include the development of a Mission and Vision Statement to which aids in the way an organization functions. The mission statement is the explanation of the organization’s existence, while the vision statement is the motivator in which defines the purpose and direction of the organization for not Continue reading